Police Log

Posted
Thursday, October 24, 2013 1:00 pm

MISSING BOAT

A Cumberland man went to headquarters on Oct. 18 to report that his 17-foot 2000 Yamaha jet boat had gone missing from the Greenwich Bay Marina on Masthead Drive. He told Officer Aaron Kay he last saw the boat on Sept. 1, when he left it at the yard. He said the boatyard workers were very busy at the time, so he just left it there. He said he came by on Oct. 14 and didn’t see his boat in the yard. He said he checked with employees and they said they had not moved the boat, so he checked with his relatives and friends to see if any of them used the boat and they had not and he now believed the boat was stolen. Kay said the man had all the paperwork for the boat. He said the boat was on a cheap trailer with no plates on it and it was not locked.

Kay said he checked with the marina and they verified that the boat was not there. He said they also had video surveillance but it had minimal storage capacity of only a couple of days, so they had no video of the boat or any suspects. Kay said he advised the man to notify police if he sees the boat or if he learned it was taken by an acquaintance and returned. The boat was valued at $6,500.

TARGETED

Officer Darren Parrillo reported he was dispatched to the Target store in the Warwick Mall around 2:45 p.m. He said the suspect was attempting to flee after fighting with loss prevention personnel and Parillo stopped him and ordered him to sit on the ground and then handcuffed him. He said a senior loss prevention manager told him they had been looking for a man who had been hitting Target stores at various locations and stealing Jambox [miniature] speakers. They told Parrillo they saw the suspect come in the store and select several articles of clothing in the man’s department and then go to the electronics and select five Jambox speakers and put them under the clothing in the cart and then headed out of the store without stopping to pay for them. The three articles of clothing and the five speakers were worth a total of $1,054.02. Somsack Sithong, 31, of 25 La Vaughn St. in Providence, who has a lengthy BCI record dating to 2004, was charged with felony shoplifting and held without bail as a felony probation violator.

CHANGE TAKEN

The owner of the Hillsgrove Service Center on Post Road told police someone cut through a padlock on a soda vending machine sometime overnight on Oct. 15 and took about $75 worth of change from the coin box. Officer Julio Benros reported that the machine itself was unharmed because a key was used to open the box itself. No suspects or witnesses.

THIRSTY

Officer Christopher Fernandes reported that he and several other officers were dispatched to the New England Lemonade store on Oakland Beach Avenue around 1:15 a.m. on Oct. 18 after a neighbor of the store called to say she saw a light go off and on in the building. Fernandes said they found the street-side window was smashed and heard noises inside when they approached. He said they covered the back and front of the store and ordered whoever was in there to come out. Fernandes said he held his gun on the man as he came outside as another officer put handcuffs on him. Officer Zachary Davis said he put the man in his cruiser and asked him why he broke into the building and he told him he was thirsty and needed some lemonade because he was diabetic and needed sugar to balance his blood sugar level. Davis said Rescue arrived to treat the cut on the man’s finger and tested his blood sugar while they were at it. Davis said it was determined to be extremely high and they transported him to Kent Hospital for evaluation. Charles Blake, 62, of 33 Hamlet Ave. in Woonsocket was charged with felony breaking and entering. Blake was already out on bail for a willful trespass charge out of Lincoln.

OBSTRUCTING

Officer Christian Vargas reported he was dispatched to the rear of the Ann & Hope building around 5 p.m. on Oct. 17 for two men with a pickup truck apparently attempting to take or strip an air conditioning unit there. He said he arrived to find one man on a cell phone outside the truck and the second man jumped from the unit and hid behind it when he saw the police car. He had both men put their hands on the hood of the truck and patted them down. A second officer arrived and they put the men inside their respective cruiser as they questioned them. One of the men said his name was Gerald Medeiros but his hesitations made Vargas suspect he was not telling the truth. He said he warned him he would be charged for obstruction but the man insisted. Vargas said the other man said he “was gonna be honest with him” and told him his friend’s name was Jimmy. He also told Vargas he thought the air conditioner was scrap because it was in an unlocked area, but the person who called police said people have been stripping the copper coils from working air conditioners and selling the copper. Dennis D. Bautista, 47, of 516 Fruit Hill Ave. in North Providence was charged with attempted larceny. James Medeiros, 49, of 7 Crane St. in Westport, Mass., was charged with obstructing a police officer and attempted larceny.

POTTED PLANTS

Officer Matthew Moretti reported he was dispatched to a residence on Main Avenue after police received a tip from someone who said there were plants growing in the backyard that appeared to be marijuana. He said he arrived at the site around 4:55 p.m. on Aug. 28 and saw what looked like marijuana growing in the yard. He said he and another officer were about to knock on the door when the homeowner drove up. Moretti said he asked the homeowner if he had a medical marijuana card or a caregiver card and he admitted he did not. Moretti said he advised the homeowner that a neighbor called to inform them that there were marijuana plants in his backyard and the homeowner allowed them to look wherever they wanted. Moretti said they found no other drugs in the house but there was evidence of marijuana use in the house. There were three plants in the backyard. He said the plants were dug up and turned over to the police’s Special Operations Group. Joseph M. Flamand, 34, of 567 Main Ave. was charged with possession of marijuana and later released on $10,000 personal recognizance.

DUI AND REFUSAL

Officer Christopher Lo reported he stopped a car for running a red light on Post Road in Apponaug around 11:20 p.m. on Oct. 13 and almost hit his cruiser in the intersection. He said the driver smelled of alcohol and looked intoxicated. He said he gave the driver a field sobriety test and he failed it. He said Erik Sousa, 25, of 877 Jefferson Blvd. was charged with DUI and refusal and later released to a sober adult.

Officer Albert Marano reported he was on patrol on Warwick Avenue around 2:25 a.m. on Oct. 12 when the car in front of him crossed the double yellow line several times as it approached Hoxsie Four Corners and then stopped about 20 feet before the stop line at the intersection. Marano said he pulled the car over at 109 West Shore Rd. He said the driver smelled of alcohol and appeared to be drunk. He said she asked him if he could just follow her home. Marano said he had her take a field sobriety test and she failed it. Nicole S. Santos, 44, of 106 Church Ave. in Warwick was taken to headquarters where she refused to take a breath test. She was charged with DUI and refusal and taken to Kent Hospital for detox and evaluation.

Officer Thomas Duncan reported stopping a car with only one headlight on after he saw it operating erratically on Toll Gate and Bald Hill Roads around 1:35 a.m. on Oct. 11. He said the driver appeared to be drunk and had no license or paperwork for the car. He said the driver had to hold onto the car to keep from falling and failed to pass a field sobriety test. He was taken to headquarters where he registered a .177 and a .178 blood alcohol content on the breath test. Patrick S. O’Donnell, 33, of 14 Haverford Rd. in Warwick was charged with DUI, driving without a license, no registration present and several moving violations. He was later released with a summons.